Apple has tested at least 3 different styluses for the iPad

A
concept of what a stylus made by Apple could look like
(unofficial image not associated with Apple)Martin
Hajek

Apple has previously tested multiple prototypes for a stylus
intended to work with the iPad, a former Apple engineer who
requested to remain anonymous told Business Insider.

At least three different stylus prototypes were present at Apple
about four years ago, this person said. Details on these
test models were scarce, but this person described the prototypes
as "different approaches to the stylus."

"I never saw them, but I know they existed," said this former
employee, who was close to people who had worked on the
prototypes.

"The people that worked on it never learned why none of them
ended up in production," this person said in reference to the
stylus prototypes. "They were told to work on something and then
it was taken away and they didn't have any idea."

This doesn't necessarily mean Apple has plans to release a stylus
— it just suggests the company has considered the idea strongly
enough to patent it and create some prototypes. Large technology
companies like Apple experiment with different product ideas all
the time with no guarantee that they will definitely come to
market. Steve Jobs famously detested the idea of a stylus, saying
the following
at the iPhone OS 4 event in April 2010:

"It's like we said on the iPad, if you see a stylus, they blew
it."

But in recent months, Apple has been adding various improvements
to the iPad that make it more suitable for productivity. When iOS
9 is released in the fall, for example, you'll be able to use
split-screen multitasking with certain apps. Many are expecting
Apple's much-rumored 12.9-inch iPad, which will reportedly debut
this fall, to bring new use cases to Apple's tablet. Adding a
stylus could be one way to do that.